Coffee Improves Mental Performance

“A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.”

- Paul Erdos, number theorist.

It’s a proven fact—coffee improves mental performance. Don’t get the wrong idea though. Coffee does not make you any smarter. That is, it does not do anything to alter the structure of your brain. What it does is that it helps you make better use of the intelligence that you already have, mainly because it affects the chemical activities in your brain.

So how does it work? Caffeine, a known component of coffee, binds to receptors that would otherwise receive adenosine. Adenosine is the neurotransmitter responsible for sending signals that tell the brain cells to tune down their activity. In a nutshell, caffeine staves off sleepiness by blocking adenosine.

And because adenosine level is down and the nervous system is generally alert, the brain reacts and releases adrenaline. This then increases the mind’s ability to focus.

To top it all, caffeine increases dopamine levels in the brain areas (the anterior cingular cortex and most areas in the frontal lobe) responsible for important executive functions—task management, attention and concentration.

So there you have it. Coffee does not make you smarter, but it does improve the key functions associated with intelligence—vigilance, attention and reaction time.

Still another great reason to wake up to your morning cup of coffee!